


The stranger next door

by MGstars



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 20:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13489455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MGstars/pseuds/MGstars
Summary: As Robin leaves his appartment, he finds himself stuck in an unexpected and quite surprising situation, with a complete stranger. How is he going to handle things?





	The stranger next door

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written for OQPromptParty, answering the following prompt : After a blackout, heavily pregnant Regina ends up stuck in an elevator (or another place, whichever you prefer) with a stranger. Unfortunately, her water breaks and Robin has to help her deliver her baby.
> 
> Feedbacks are more than appreciated.

" _Wait!_  Please, hold the door!"

Robin's hand instinctively comes between the two doors, forbidding them from closing thanks to the sensor. He peaks his head outside, catches sight of a heavily pregnant brunette coming his way.

She stumbles inside, holding a small suitcase, heavily breathing she leans against the wall immediately.

"Thank you!" She breathes, her eyes closed, hands bracing her belly, brow furrowed. "Lobby, please."

The button is already pushed as it's Robin's destination, too. Instead, he stares at the woman, at the way her jaw clenches, how she's crisped and obviously in pain. She doesn't look familiar to him, but yet, he can't say he knows his neighbors very well. Or at all.

"Are you alright?"

She looks at him for the first time then, letting him face two dark shining eyes reflecting incredible distress just as well as astonishing beauty.

"Yeah." She draws a long and deep breath out. "Contractions."

"Are you in labor?"

"Think so-  _ohhh"_  she says.

She doubles over, and Robin slowly approaches her, cupping her elbow gently. He doesn't want to sound intrusive, but he can't really stand there and watch her suffer in silence, can he?

"That's okay. It's gonna pass. Just breathe slowly."

He expects her to scold him for the familiarity he talks to her with, however she does not. Instead she does as she's told, focuses on her breathing until, slowly, the pain seems to subside, then disappear.

"How close are they?" He asks when she leans back with a sigh, wiping her forehead with her sleeve.

"I don't know. Maybe every five minutes."

"How is it that you're not at the hospital yet?"

She chuckles, her facial features turning into a painful grimace. "I was cleaning my place when the pain started, so I assumed it was due to the extra effort. But then my water broke, and it finally clicked. The contractions were already close by the time I got off the phone with my midwife."

"Do you have someone to drive you to the hospital?"

"I've called a cab."

Robin smiles reassuringly, releases her elbow and steps back. "You're all settled then. You'll be there quick-"

He's cut off when the elevator shakes and the lights flash. They lose their balance, catching themselves at the last second on the handrail. The woman lets out a small shriek in surprise, probably in pain too as she clutches her belly as if she's having contractions again. Between two blinks of light, Robin sees her bend forward, crouch and press herself against the wall, holding the barrier with as much strength as she can muster in her condition if her white knuckles are any indication.

He's not much more stable himself, closes his eyes and tries to stay calm while he feels panic rise within him. He hasn't been fond of elevators after he got stuck in one for twelve hours in his youth. He usually uses the stairs as much as possible.

But here's the thing. He just moved into the apartment of his dreams, spacious, modern, with hardwood floors and floor to ceiling windows, drowned by daylight, though with just one a disadvantage: its location. It's on the 44th floor.

Even though he instantly fell for this place (he has to admit that the amazing view triggered something in him), his doubts made him seek for his friends' advice; after all, they know him better than anyone.

Tuck advised him to keep searching for a little longer if his doubts were so strong, just to confirm that place was the one he truly wanted, although he warned him about the risk of it getting sold by the time he made his decision.

John, always the romantic one, warned him that finding the ideal apartment doesn't happen very often and it was worth the shot.

And Alan… Alan threw all his statistics at him, as he often does. He noted that there's only so many chances for him to be stuck in an elevator, let alone die in one, that it might have happened to him once, but that was because the place he used to live in as a child was a hovel. This apartment, on the contrary, is newly furnished, freshly painted and clean, the entire building sharing the same characteristics. So, Robin was convinced by his friends that his fear wasn't rational, that everything would be fine.

Except it hasn't even been two weeks since he moved in and Alan's stats are ready to be thrown out the window.

Damn it!

"Are you okay?"

Robin jumps at the voice, opens the eyes he hadn't realized he had closed, to discover that the main lights are off in the still unmoving elevator, just the small emergency light is on - probably thanks to the back up generator - allowing him to see his surroundings.

Well, he's not dead yet, so there's that.

"Sir?"

There's a hand on his shoulder, and a shadow hiding the lights from him, so Robin shakes himself out of his daze. He meets the dark eyes of a woman, who's staring at him with concern.

Right! The pregnant woman he held the elevator's doors for. Poor thing. If she was lucky, she wouldn't be stuck with him inside a broken elevator while…

"You're in labor!" he exclaims, reality coming back to him in waves. He straightens his spine, while she slowly leans backward, sitting down in front of him.

"Uh… yes," she replies, evidently confused. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem a bit lost right now."

Robin shakes his head, focuses in his attempt to come back to his senses, to remember what has happened.

Oh, yes! He was telling her how everything was going to be just fine. Next time he'll keep his mouth shut!  _If_  there even  _is_  a next time.

"Yes, yes. It's just..." He rakes a hand through his hair. "I hate elevators."

She raises an eyebrow at him. "You live on the 44th floor."

Robin throws her a suspicious look.

"How do you know that?"

"You held the elevator door for me and," she rubs her belly in circles, stops for a second, breathes deeply. "I heard you move in. I live in the apartment next to yours."

Robin's eyes widen and his mouth drops open. How did he not notice her before? And then his gaze is drawn by her moving hands, and he realizes… right! Pregnant woman. About to give birth. Probably on maternity leave for the past few weeks, and he's barely been home lately.

"We never met though… until now," she adds with a shrug.

"That's for sure. I doubt I'd ever forget meeting you."

She looks a little embarrassed, but a slight blush creeps up on her cheeks, looks down.

"So we're stuck here?" He asks, to change the subject, and because he has nothing else to say.

"I'm afraid so. I pushed the button to make the doors open but it didn't work."

He gets up, moves carefully towards the doors, a hand coming flat against the metal. "Maybe I can try to open them myself."

"I would help but-" she says, waving her hand towards her abdomen, but Robin shakes his head.

"No. You rest. You're in labor, you're gonna need all your strength later."

She scoots backward, her movements slow and measured until her back rests against the wall, as he inserts his fingers in the small space between the doors.

And then, he pushes as hard as he can to separate them. He does so until he lacks the air to breathe, humphs soundly as he stops the effort.

"Okay, one more time."

But his second attempt isn't more successful. The doors haven't moved an inch.

"Here's for my pride." Robin chuckles. He scratches the back of his head, looks at her guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"That's not your - _ohhh_ \- fault."

She shuts her eyes tightly, wraps her arms around her rounded belly while she breathes soundly.

Robin's by her side a second later.

"Take deep breaths. Yes, like this. You're doing great."

"How do you know that?" She asks lightly, smiling a little, probably teasing him, but he doesn't care if it helps her relax. He's not really keen to help deliver a baby today.

"I've watched movies." He shrugs, giving her his most charming smile.

"Those are girl movies." She counteracts with a smirk.

Robin's chuckle is deep and genuine.

"I have weird tastes."

"Are you calling  _my_  tastes  _weird_?" She accuses between two breaths.

"Oh! Uh… no! I meant that I have weird tastes for a man, that's all!" He hurries to answer, a bit embarrassed, even though he knows she was joking.

But she seems to be dealing with a stronger contraction, because she doesn't reply. Instead her face twists in pain, fingers closing over her dress, eyes screwed shut.

Robin supports her with a hand on her shoulder, but he doesn't dare speak again.

She exhales deeply when it fades, lets her head fall backward.

"Maybe you should call someone?" Robin offers. "Your husband, your parents? Give them a heads up."

"We should try to understand what's going on first, don't you think?" She tells him sympathetically with a duck of her head.

Robin chuckles embarrassedly. She's right! He should have thought of that first.

"Of course. I'm going to-"

He's searching for the emergency call button when she cuts him off.

"I'm Regina by the way." She holds her hand out, and he stares at it for a second, caught off guard.

"Oh, yes! Yes, I'm sorry, where are my manners?" He laughs sheepishly, shaking her hand. "I'm Robin. Very nice to meet you, Regina!"

"The pleasure is mi - _ohhh_ \- mine." She says in a pained wince.

This time, Robin doesn't lose his focus and turns towards the emergency button. It's one thing to tell her how to breathe, something she knows perfectly well how to do, and another thing to help her out of this tricky situation. To achieve the latter, he needs to find a way to get them out and allow her to be taken care of by specialists in a proper environment.

When he presses the emergency button, several rings are heard, resonating in the confined space, and Robin waits, whispering  _Come on!_ repeatedly until finally,  _finally…_

"He- hello?"

Robin almost jumps on the wall, half screaming. "Hey! Do you hear me?"

"I do. What can I do for you, sir?"

"My name is Robin Locksley. I'm with a woman named Regina…" he turns towards her, and she mouths  _Mills._ "Mills. We're stuck in the elevator! There was a breakdown or something, now I can't open the doors."

"I just localized you. There's been a general blackout. The entire block is out of power."

"Can you get us out?"

"We're doing everything we can, sir."

" _No!"_ Robin cuts him off sharply. "I think you didn't understand my question. " _When_  are you going to get us out of here?"

"Sir, like I said, we are-"

"I have a nine-month pregnant woman with me who's having contractions every-" he looks over at Regina again, who's doubling over once again, exhaling shakingly, her face contorted in pain. She lifts a hand, shows two fingers. "Every  _two_  minutes! So I don't know what the hell you're doing, but you better do it quickly! Unless you want a baby to be born in this elevator!"

He's yelling now, is thrown between panicking and going to Regina, trying to reassure her as convincingly as possible with lies and pretenses that everything is going to be okay when he truly has no idea of what's going to happen.

There's white noise coming from the intercom, then silence for a bit, only broken by Regina's whimpers and humphs, until the white noise is back, followed by the sound of someone catching the phone on the other side.

"Mr. Locksley?"

"Yes!" Robin replies with relief. "I'm here!"

"Hi, I'm Chief Humbert. You can call me Graham."

"I'll even buy you a bottle of good wine if you tell me you're working on getting us out right now."

"We are, we put you on top of our emergency list. But it's still gonna take some time."

Regina's scream cuts off the man's speech. Robin jumps and turns to look at her, at the way she seems to be in so much distress, but at the same time struggles - and manages - to stay in control of the situation.

Graham's voice resonates around the confined space again. "More time than you have." Robin looks at the intercom in horror. "I'm sorry, Robin. I'm afraid you're gonna have to deliver this baby."

" _What?_ " Robin's jaw drops. He looks back to Regina, who's gripping the handrail tightly with her eyes screwed shut. Pain hasn't left her face, but now there's something else there as well, something that Robin interprets as realization.

She's in a much worse situation than him, Robin realizes, so he concentrates, repeats in his head that everything is going to be alright, that help is on its way.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket, intending to contact a hospital or anyone who could help, but there is no signal.

He turns towards Regina, looking at her in question, and she shakes her head in return. Her phone is by her side; she must have already checked.

When he faces the intercom again, he's calmed, speaking in a sturdier voice despite the lump in his throat.

"Can you at least call someone who can guide me through this? Our phones don't have reception in here."

"I'm already working on that. Don't worry, Robin. We aren't going to let you down."

Robin closes his eyes and exhales softly. "Alright. I'm going to check on Regina. Work as fast as you can."

He doesn't wait for the answer, but instantly joins the woman on the floor, his hand instinctively covering her shoulder.

"Did you hear that man?"

She nods breathily.

"Are you ready?"

She looks up a little, attempts a small smile. "Do I have a choice?"

"Right!" Robin chuckles. "Let's get you more comfortable." He looks around, glances at her suitcase that has fallen flat on the floor next to her. "Do you have anything helpful in there?"

"A pillow." She breathes, holding her hand out for the bag.

Robin throws her a raised eyebrow, grabs the suitcase and pulls it towards them. "A pillow?" He questions while she tugs on the zipper.

"The hospital ones are not really comfortable."

"How do you know -oh!"

He stops himself when he finds the answer to his question.

"You've spent a lot of time there," he states, to which she nods.

"More time than I would've liked to."

"I'm sorry." And he is, really, even though he doesn't know why she had to be there, but well,  _hospitals_ , right? It screams pain just when you say the word. "Maybe we should ask Graham to call your family, now that we know you probably won't make it to the hospital in time."

She gives him a sympathetic smile. "I have no one."

"Your husband?"

"No one," she repeats in a hushed voice.

"Oh…" Robin looks down, suddenly taken off guard and at a loss for words. He doesn't know what this means, and it's not the time to ask. "Well, today you have me," he says with a confident smile, hopefully a reassuring one.

He tilts his head towards her suitcase, and she nods, gives him permission to take what he deems useful.

She wipes her forehead with fingers surprisingly steady, leans back against the pillow, laughs a little. "I'm sorry I'm putting you in this position."

"Yours is worse than mine." Robin shuts his eyes and mouth when he realizes how that just sounded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"That's okay." Regina waves him off, breathing heavily between every sentence. "I'm," she licks her lips. "I'm fine.  _Mmmh_ \- Let's say I had a feeling this day wouldn't go very well."

Robin, who is pulling out a couple of towels, stops mid-course. "Why's that?"

"Tough year," she replies.

"Is that why you're so calm despite this situation?"

She nods quickly. "Yeah." She breathes deeply, then adds with a dry chuckle, "I'm starting to think I'm cursed."

"I don't believe that. And I'm going to prove you wrong. You and your baby are going to be fine." He assures her, searching through her toiletry bag. "Do you have anything to sanitize my hands with?"

"In my pur - _ohhh_ "

This time it lasts longer. It looks like it's getting more and more difficult for her to overcome each contraction, and it catches Robin's attention, making him frown.

"What is it?" He scoots closer, urges her to reply, cannot do anything else, but witness her face torn by her pain, by the way she tries so desperately not to scream.

"I want to push!" She almost yells instead, bending over her stomach, hands clenched as she tries her hardest to hold back.

Robin desperately looks at her, unable to tell her what to do, ignoring everything about a child's delivery. But he just promised himself he's going to support her, and that's exactly what he's going to do.

When she relaxes a little, he takes one of her hands, links their fingers together, squeezes softly and looks her straight in the eyes when she lifts her head.

"I'm in this with you, alright?"

She nods wordlessly.

"We don't really know each other, and I don't know your story, but what I do know is that today, you're going to deliver a very healthy baby, and that you're going to become an amazing mom."

"So now you're predicting the future?"

"Houdini is my second name." He says with a wink.

Regina chuckles, then winces and starts rubbing circles over her abdomen. "Houdini was a magician. I think you meant - _ouch_ \- Nostradamus."

Robin's brow shoots up as he finds the sanitizer in her purse.

"Whoever suits you best." He shrugs and smiles. And then, he roots himself in front of her. "Alright. This is going to become really awkward, but I think I'm supposed to check what's happening…" He glances towards her pelvis. "Down there."

"Do you at least know what you're supposed to look for?" Regina asks on a light tone.

"Can we pretend that I do?"

She chuckles, leans her back down against the wall a little more so that she's almost lying on the floor of the elevator and begins to pull her dress up.

" _Robin_?  _Robin, are you there_?"

Graham's voice is back, and Robin looks over at Regina, who tilts her chin towards the intercom.

"Yes! Any good news?"

"I found someone who can help you with the delivery."

"Thank God!" Robin shouts, then opens wide and shocked eyes at his own reaction, immediately apologizing to Regina, who laughs softly in relief through her painful mask. "And about getting us out of here?" He asks on a more serious tone.

"Working on it. We're in the building, but it's going to take us a while."

"A midwife on the phone is better than nothing," Regina points out, to which Robin agrees. It's a better alternative to what they had two minutes ago, with him bent between her legs in search for God knows what.

"Hello?"

A high-pitched and shy voice replaces Graham's, catching their attention.

Robin grabs Regina's hand when he hears her whimper, trying to fight a contraction, and she grips it back, clutches his fingers with force.

"Yes?" Robin replies.

"My name is Mary Margaret. I'm a midwife. We're going to work together to help deliver this little bundle of love, alright?"

Robin stares in astonishment at Regina when the shy voice becomes a cheerful one.

"Where did they find her?" He whispers.

"I don't know." Regina answers on the same tone. "But if she knows her job, I'll accommodate."

"Me too, but…" Robin can't help a small laugh. "Wow!"

"Hello? Are you still there?"

Oh, damn!

"Yes, yes!" Robin hurries to answer, and then clears his throat. "I'm sorry. So, what should I do?"

"How frequent are the contractions?"

"Really close!" Regina lets out a sudden scream, squeezing Robin's hand, her body tense. "I  _really_  want to push!"

"Oh! Very well then, you must be very advanced."

"No kidding," Regina mutters, gritting her teeth.

"Robin, I'm going to ask you to examine Regina, alright?"

Robin lifts a sheepish eyebrow at the brunette, who nods and spreads her legs as he kneels in front of her.

He breathes in to give himself some courage. "I'm ready."

"Now, can you insert your fingers to check how dilated she is?"

"I'm  _so_  sorry," Robin breathes to Regina, almost embarrassed, but she's barely aware as her body is seized by another contraction.

"What do you feel?" The high pitched voice of the midwife questions.

Robin doesn't need experience to know what he feels.

"The head! I can feel the baby's head!" He shouts.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" He responds, a bit exasperated. How much more proof that this woman's in labor does she need? This midwife seems to have been taken out of a fluffy cartoon. "We've been stuck in here for an hour, and she was already in labor when she entered the elevator. Now how about you tell me how I can help her deliver this baby!"

The sound of an embarrassed throat clearing comes through the intercom, and then the midwife finally starts guiding him.

While Regina is finally allowed to push, Robin listens dutifully to Mary Margaret's direction, all the while not forgetting to reassure and encourage the very soon-to-be mother. Regina breathes and screams and goes through the ordeal with an incredible strength and calmness Robin's not sure he himself possesses.

Until…

A child's scream pierces through the cacophony of guidance and soundly breathing, shutting up everyone effectively.

Regina falls back against the wall with a relieved sob, staring at Robin who's wrapping the child into one of her towels, eyes glassy as he stares down at it.

He looks up at her with a toothy and emotional grin.

"You did it!"

He cuts the cord with a clean pair of small scissors, before he moves by her side, and hands Regina her baby, whom she welcomes happily.

"It's a beautiful little boy," he whispers, letting the mother admire her child, his tiny hand wrapping around her finger as she coos and rocks him softly.

"Hello, Henry," she greets, pressing kisses to her son's forehead and nose. "Welcome to the world, my little prince."

The child slowly quiets down, snuggled against his mother, held securely against her with one of her hands. Her other hand brushes his forehead affectionately and then moves to grab Robin's. And she means every word when she says, "I didn't do it alone, Robin.  _We_ did it. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Regina."

" _Hey there! Is everything alright?_ "

They jump at the voice, as caught up in the moment, they've forgotten about the people on the receiving end of the communication.

"We're here, everyone's okay!" Robin says loud enough for them to hear.

"Hang in there, the power is about to-" As if on cue, the main lights turn on again, and the sound of the engine is heard, resonating like sweet music to Regina and Robin's ears. "Come back." Graham finishes.

"Yes!" Robin screams in victory, his fists above his head.

The baby startles at the loud mixture of noises, whining a little, but his mother cuddles and shushes him softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Robin apologizes, lowering his voice and hands.

"That's okay, I-"

The doors of the elevator open, cutting her off when the whole crew of the rescue mission appears behind them. Regina quickly pushes her dress down, but lets out a relieved sigh. Robin stares at them with a broad smile, getting up to face and greet them.

"Thank God! Took you long enough!"

A thin man around his thirties, with light brown short hair, steps inside.

"Miss Mills, Mr. Locksley. I'm Chief Humbert."

"Very nice to meet you in person, Graham," Robin says happily. He's about to shake the man's hand, but after considering where his hands have just been, he stops himself and nods instead.

"Likewise." He lowers his gaze to the mother and child. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

Someone awkwardly clears their throat behind him, and a small brunette with a pixie haircut steps in front of him.

"Sorry. Hi! I'm Mary Margaret!" She happily greets.

"Hello! Thank you for your help. Your instructions made things a lot easier."

She smugly smiles. "It was my pleasure. Now can I check on the new mother?"

It sounds like a question, but she crouches in front of Regina before anyone answers her, so none of them bother to answer.

She asks Regina several questions, peaks her head underneath her dress and then asks the firemen and paramedics to help Regina and Henry on a gurney so they can be driven to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where they can be properly examined and taken care of.

Regina goes willingly; she's all too eager to leave this place. But as she's about to be taken outside, she grips Robin's arm.

"Yes?"

He bends over her, can't help brushing the baby's cheek in the process. He's smiling like an idiot and he knows it, but well, the sight is just heartwarming and soothes the heavy dose of adrenaline they were subjected to for the past two hours.

"Thank you again, Robin."

"You don't need to thank me, Regina. I'm glad I was here to help. And I told you everything was going to be fine, didn't I?"

"You did." She chuckles, and then grows more serious, asks shyly. "Will you come and visit us?"

"Where?"

"At the hospital." Suddenly embarrassed, she adds quickly. "You don't have to! But… I'd like it. And Henry would like it, too."

Robin kindly squeezes her hand. "I will, Regina. After all of this, I think it's safe to say I'm not the stranger next door anymore."

Regina watches him with a bright smile.

"Definitely not."


End file.
